The men's and women's squash teams began their season at Harvard on November 21 with strong showings. The men defeated Connecticut College 6-3, Hamilton College 9-0, and MIT 9-0. The women defeated Connecticut College 6-3 and Wellesley 9-0 before faltering at the hands of the Hamilton Continentals 9-0.
The women's team began their 2009-2010 season captainless, with both captains Lauren Gesswein '11 and Katie Boyce '11 abroad for the fall semester.
The team also welcomed four new first years to the team: Louisa Cannell '13, Gillian Hannon '13, Monica Wlodarczyk '13, and Elizabeth Schetman '13.
Schetman, who filled the No. 2 spot, was satisfied with the team's performance.
"The team played well and went in with low expectations," she said. "With both captains abroad, a 2-1 win was very, very good."
Senior Palmer Higgins made his triumphant return to the court after sitting out an entire season last year due to an injury, defeating all three of his opponents at Harvard.
Men's No. 1 David Funk '10 also started off the season on a positive note winning two of his three matches against Harvard. No. 3 Andy Bernard '11 won both of his matches, as well.
The men's team welcomed five new first years: William Fantini '13, Christopher Jayne '13, Andrew Hilboldt '13, Barrett Takesian '13, and William "Clint" Trenkelbach '13.
On Sunday, November 22, the Polar Bear men went up against the Trinity College squad in the Bantams' first appearance in Maine.
The Bantam squash team has not lost a match in 11 years, making it the winningest team in the history of collegiate athletics.
The Polar Bears put up a valiant effort before falling to the Bantams 9-0. The end result was hardly unexpected, and most of the team took the defeat in stride.
Andrew Sprague '12 reflected this attitude after the match.
"I felt pretty good about today's match against Trinity," Sprague said. "We definitely gave it our best effort."
Both teams look forward to their next match and the rest of the season, which begins on January 10 against the Williams Ephs in Bowdoin's Lubin Family Squash Center.